Grinding mill

ABSTRACT

A grinding mill which includes first and second grinding wheels having substantially plane annular grinding faces mated substantially adjacent together, and at least one serration formed in the grinding face of each of the grinding wheels extending from an interior edge of the face to a mid-portion thereof, such that the material being ground by the wheels falls into the opening between the serrations and is cut by a grinding face of a grinding wheel when the serrations are moved out of mutual alignment.

Unite tats atent 1 1 1 Lurker et Feb. 20, 1973 54] GRINDING MILL 904,905 11/1908 Warner ..241 247 [76] Immmors: Harold Luke Box 248 Tremom 959,714 5 1910 Carlson ..241 247 x ton, Utah; Gary L. Skeem, Box 291, McCammon, Idaho 83250 Primary Examiner-Granville Y. Custer, Jr. Attorney-C. Harvey Gold, David V. Trask and William S. Britt [57] ABSTRACT A grinding mill which includes first and second grinding wheels having substantially plane annular grinding faces mated substantially adjacent together, and at least one serration formed in the grinding face of each of the grinding wheels extending from an interior edge of the face to a mid-portion thereof, such that the material being ground by the wheels falls into the opening between the serrations and is cut by a grinding face of a grinding wheel when the serrations are moved out of mutual alignment.

1 Claim, 9 Drawing Figures [22] Filed: Nov. 9, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 87,723

[52] US. Cl ..241/247 [51] Int. Cl ..B02c 23/02 [58] Field of Search ..'.241/247 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,568,940 3/1971 Merges ..241/247 X 322,773 7/1885 Anderson ..241/247 X 408,448 8/1889 Winchell ..241/247 X 517,377 3/1894 Broeg ..241/247 X 827,579 7/1906 Straub ..24l/247 MU NE 2 O O 4 3 mum 5 6 6 w mm & 1 a .W W w$fl w o m 8 A. 4 M m JQQWWJ E w m BY [27y L. Skeem Their Attorney PATENTED FEB 2 01973 C (so F7618 PATENTEB FEBZ 01973 SHEET 2 OF 2 INVENTOR. Harold E. L-uker BY 5 k em Their A forney GRINDING Mini.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Over the years a great variety of mills have been devised for grinding materials such as grains of various types. In most grinding mills, the material to be ground is fed between abrasive wheels, most often abrasive stones, while at least one of the wheels is moved with respect to the other. However, one problem encountered in mills of this type, and particularly in hand operated ones, is that the material to be ground does not readily move between the grinding wheels to be ground thereby. Accordingly, it is the principal-object of this invention to provide a grinding wheel structure for grinding mills that draw material to be ground between the wheels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In its broadest form the invention relates to grinding mills having mating grinding members with substantially plane grinding faces with at least one serration in each grinding face extending from the edge of each face to a mid-portion thereof such that the materials to be ground between the grinding members falls into the opening formed between the serration when said serrations are mated together and is cut by one grinding face when the serrations are moved out of alignment.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the grinding members are wheels with substantially plane annular grinding faces.

In another embodiment of the invention, a first grinding wheel is fixedly secured to a support frame and a second wheel is rotatably secured to the frame, and means are provided for passing a material to be ground into an opening between the grinding wheels.

In yet another embodiment of the invention a plurality of serrations are provided in each of the grinding wheels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS So that the method may be readily understood and carried into effect, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which are offered by way of example only, and are not to be taken as limiting the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims, which obviously embrace equivalent structures.

FIG. 1 is a plan elevation view of one type of grinding mill suitable for use with the improved grinding wheels of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the grinding mill shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of FIG. 2 taken in the plane of line 3-3 looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 4 is a plan elevation view of the stationary grinding wheel of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of FIG. 4 taken in the plane of line 5-5 looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 6 is a plan elevation view of the rotating grinding wheel of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of FIG. 6 taken in the plane of line 7--7, looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 8 is a top view of a pair of grinding plates of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of FIG. 8 taken in the plane of line 9--9, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a conventional hand operated grinding mill 10 fitted with the improved grinding wheels 12 and 14 of this invention. As shown, the mill includes a support stand 16 secured to conveyor housing 18 having an enlarged feed supply reservoir 20 mounted thereon proximate one end and an open opposite end 22 for passing feed such as grain or the like into open cavity 24 between grinding wheels 12 and 14, hereinafter described in detail. A screw conveyor 26 is mounted within housing 18 for conveying feed material in the reservoir 20 to cavity 24.

Conveyor 26 is driven in a conventional fashion with, for example, handle 28 which is secured to one end of conveyor 26 with wing nut 30. The conveyor can, of course, be power driven with a conventional motor by replacing handle 28 with a pulley or sprocket which in turn is driven by the motor. The end of conveyor 26 opposite handle 28 extends through stationary grinding wheel 12 and is keyed to wheel 14 to rotate said wheel when the conveyor is turned. Rotating wheel 14 is held in alignment with stationary wheel 12 and at a predetermined spacing therefrom with bracket 32, affixed at its opposite ends to tie-down plate 34 with bolts 36 and wing nut 38 and with threaded positioning rod 40. Wheel 1.4 is rotatably mounted to one end of rod 40 which is threaded into bracket 32 so that the position of wheel 14 with respect to wheel 12 can be adjusted by turning said rod 40.

The improved grinding wheels of the invention are shown in FIGS. 4-7. As illustrated, the wheels are of an annular construction, i.e., each wheel has a grinding face 42 in the shape of a ring or band having a peripheral outside edge 44 and an interior edge 46. The interior portion 48 of each wheel is dished out so that a cavity 24 is formed between the wheels when their grinding faces are positioned in a side by side relationship. At least one serration or notch 50 is formed in each of the grinding wheels 12 and 14, which extend from the grinding surfaces interior edge 46 outwardly to a mid-portion of grinding surface 42. Preferably, a plurality of such serrations 50 are provided in each wheel for increasing the grinding efficiency of the wheels. While any number of serrations can be provided in each wheel the serrations should be spaced apart from each other such that cutting surface 42 spaces each serration.

The term serration as used herein refers to a notch of any shape or configuration formed in the grinding face 42 of a grinding wheel for receiving material to be ground. For example, serrations can be formed with plane or carved sidewalls or interior walls. Also, the phrase mid-portion as used herein refers to any interior portion of grinding face 42, e.g., when an annular grinding stone is used the mid-portion of its grinding face 42 is any position between the faces peripheral outside edge 44 and its interior edge 46.

Grinding wheels 12 and 14 are generally abrasive stones. However, as used herein, the terms grinding wheel or grinding member refers to any structure of any composition constructed in the fashion herein described for grinding or cutting materials. As shown in FIG. 4, grinding wheel 12 is provided with a-central opening 52 through which the end of screw conveyor 26 passes for conveying feed material into cavity 24 to be ground. Rotating wheel 14 is formed with a keyed slot 54 sized to receive the driving end 56 of conveyor 26 to be driven therewith.

It is to be noted that while grinding wheels structured as herein described represent the preferred form of the invention, other types of grinding members are also useful. For example, mating serrations 50 can be positioned in grinding plates 62 and 64 as illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. As shown, the serrations extend from the top edge 58 of each of the substantially plane grinding faces 60 of the plates to a position proximate the mid-portion of the faces 60. Accordingly, when one plate, e.g., plate 64, is reciprocated back and forth with respect to plate 62, grain particles or the like, positioned between the plates will fall within the cavities formed between serrations 50 when they are aligned and will then be cut when the serrations are moved out of alignment.

In operation, reservoir 20 of the grinding mill is filled with a material to be ground such as wheat. Conveyor 26 is then rotated by turning handle 28 so that the material in reservoir 26 is conveyed through orifice 52 in stationary grinding wheel 12 and from thence into cavity 24 between grinding wheels 12 and 14. As conveyor 26 is rotated wheel 14 is turned with respect to wheels 12 thereby grinding the material which passes between the grinding faces of the wheels. When serrations 50 in wheel 12 are aligned with the serrations 50 in wheel 14 particles to be ground easily fall into the opening therebetween. Thereafter, when the serrations are moved out of mutual alignment the material therebetween is cut by the grinding faces of wheels l4 and 16 as they move over the serrations.

We claim:

1. A hand-operated grain grinding mill which comprises a support frame; a first grinding wheel of abrasive stone having an annular planar grinding face attached to said frame; a second grinding wheel of abrasive stone having an annular planar grinding face' shaped to coact with the grinding face of the first grinding wheel; each of said wheels of abrasive stone having a disked interior to form a cavity when the grinding faces are positioned in a side by side relationship; conveyor means passing through a central opening in said first grinding wheel and secured to said second grinding wheel for positioning grain proximate the interface between the grinding faces of said first and second grinding wheels, said conveyor means connected to said second grinding wheel for rotating same in reference to said first grinding wheel, said conveyor means having handle means attached to an end opposite said second grinding wheel to provide for hand operation; and a plurality of serrations spaced by a cutting surface in the grinding face of each grinding member, said serrations extending from the interior edge of the annular grinding face upon which said material to be ground is fed to a mid-portion of said annular face wherein said material to be ground between said grinding faces passes from the cavity between said disks into the opening between serrations in the grinding faces when said serrations are in mutual alignment and said material in the openings between said serrations is cut by a grindin face when said serrations are shifted out o allgnmen by moving said second grinding member.

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1. A hand-operated grain grinding mill which comprises a support frame; a first grinding wheel of abrasive stone having an annular planar grinding face attached to said frame; a second grinding wheel of abrasive stone having an annular planar grinding face shaped to coact with the grinding face of the first grinding wheel; each of said wheels of abrasive stone having a disked interior to form a cavity when the grinding faces are positioned in a side by side relationship; conveyor means passing through a central opening in said first grinding wheel and secured to said second grinding wheel for positioning grain proximate the interface between the grinding faces of said first and second grinding wheels, said conveyor means connected to said second grinding wheel for rotating same in reference to said first grinding wheel, said conveyor means having handle means attached to an end opposite said second grinding wheel to provide for hand operation; and a plurality of serrations spaced by a cutting surface in the grinding face of each grinding member, said serrations extending from the interior edge of the annular grinding face upon which said material to be ground is fed to a mid-portion of said annular face wherein said material to be ground between said grinding faces passes from the cavity between said disks into the opening between serrations in the grinding faces when said serrations are in mutual alignment and said material in the openings between said serrations is cut by a grinding face when said serrations are shifted out of alignment by moving said second grinding member. 